Many
people tend to believe that translation and interpretation are
interchangeable terms, but they are not!
TRANSLATION
involves writing. The translator begins with a written text in one
language (referred to as the source text) and translates it into a
second language (referred to as the target text). This is not just a
matter of simply substituting a word in one language for the
identical word in another language; translation involves the task of
conveying the idea and true meaning of the original text in a
culturally relevant, correct and true rendering in the target text.
Sometimes a source text word or phrase may not exist in the target
text, and the translator must find a way to convey that
word’s
meaning in the target text. Just think: how would one translate the
phrase "as white as snow" into a language that has no word
for snow?
The
translator must also convey the unspoken but understood humor,
sarcasm, confusion, doubt, threat, or other emotions that exist in
the source language. Here’s an example:
This
translator witnessed a beat-up pickup that actually had eight grown
men crammed in the back. There were also five adult men in the cab.
One of the men held up a cardboard sign saying, "Es más
triste
andar a pie". This literally says, "It is more sad to walk
on foot". What is actually meant to be conveyed is closer to
something like, "It's better than walking" or "This
beats walking". A qualified translator picks up on things like
this and renders accordingly.
INTERPRETATION
involves speaking. As in translation, the interpreter must render the
entire meaning and idea expressed in one language (referred to as the
source language) into a second language (referred to as the target
language) in a way that is culturally relevant and correct.
The
interpreter either speaks at the same time as the source language
speaker, interpreting what is said a line or so behind the speaker
(this is referred to as simultaneous interpretation), or else the
interpreter has the speaker say a few lines or express an entire
idea, then pause while the interpreter renders what was said (this is
referred to as consecutive interpretation).
The
interpreter has the same task as the translator, which is to convey
the entire meaning and intent of the source language into the target
language, including the unspoken but understood humor, sarcasm, or
other emotions or idioms. Here is an example:
Someone
may say in French, "Je suis tombé dans les pommes". This
literally means, "I fell into the apples", and it makes no
sense in English. But the culturally competent interpreter knows that
this is a way of saying, "I fainted", and would render it
accordingly.
